It's Ok To Cry
by heechul
Summary: Sometimes, it's impossible to melt. Sometimes, you'll be lucky enough to have someone who will bother trying. Hatori x Mayuko


**A/N:** Kekekekekeke…This is a Hatori x Mayuko, so there WILL be spoilers. Warning: Do not read unless you're up to volume 10 (maybe…I'm not sure) and up. Tatsuya is the made-up name of Kana's husband. I made it up, I don't know if it is…Tell me what the real one is. Reviews are appreciated. This is a one-shot, by the way.

**Evil disclaimer thing of doom**: Um, I mean, I guess that if it belonged to me, the art wouldn't be as great. Anyways, all characters and general storyline belongs to Natsuki Takaya-sensei. Although, I wonder what would happen if I tried to buy Fruits Basket off of her…think it would work? I could bribe her with ramen.

_Once upon a time, there was a man who cried when no one watched, and a woman who wanted something that wasn't hers. Once upon a time, Spring melted the Snow, while Summer wondered what to do. Once upon a time, it went like this: Summer melted the Snow, while Spring lost what it once had. Once upon a time, Summer felt, that words would take over her soul and Snow felt that the silence would overwhelm, and deafen him._

"_I didn't deserve her, that's why I lost her. I don't deserve these people in front of me either, because my snow will isolate everyone."_

The day that Hatori lost Kana, he lost a little bit of himself too. He retreated back into the darkness, and embraced the snow that he was cursed with. Few noticed this change in him, because few knew of his relationship with Kana. But Mayuko noticed and she realized, that when Kana lost her Hatori, she lost a little of herself as well. Her smiles weren't as bright as before, her eyes sometimes misted, as though she were trying to remember something painful. Sometimes when her husband talked to her, she got the sparkle back in her eyes, but she confided in Mayuko once.

_" 'Mayu-kun, I think I'm going crazy. Whenever Tatsuya talks to me, I imagine it's Hatori-san. I think the love was always one-sided but he was my first love…Mayu-kun…sometimes, I think I still love him…more than I love Tatsuya.' "_

But right afterwards, Kana just laughed and said she was just being silly and that she loved Tatsuya more than anyone else. Only Mayuko understood, because she had seen them. Hatori was a changed man then, he smiled more and Kana was at her happiest. For once in her life, Mayuko had actually seen a true smile on Hatori's face, his eyes not laden with a mysterious sadness. Mayuko had longed to be the one to change him, if she had studied medicine instead of her teaching degree. But she realized that it wouldn't have meant to be, that Kana was the only one who could melt his icy exterior.

She had been with Shigure for a reason. To see if maybe she could feel the same sort of love she felt for Hatori. But it wasn't the same sort of love. It was a kind of comradeship instead. He was a ripple after all. Nothing compared to Hatori, who was a unique brook. Hatori flowed at his own pace, beautiful in his own way. Shigure was a mere ripple compared to Hatori.

" '_Aside from Hatori, there are very few people who can tell what Shigure is thinking about. A long time ago, someone said: He's like a ripple on the water. If you try to bring it close to you, it pulls away. Though it may brush against your feet, if you try to catch it, it will pull farther away. He's a man who can't be caught.' "_

Mayuko wasn't getting any younger and there were many men. But she didn't want any of them, she wanted Hatori. But Hatori belonged to Kana and if not literally, his heart belonged to Kana. She still kept in touch with Shigure, although that man was an absolute hindrance to her existence. Every once in a while, during the summer, he would come see her at her bookstore and bother her for more of his book orders.

"Mayu-kun, I understand But you have to stop hiding, nothing's going to change. Kana's gone, and Hatori's never going to be the person he once was…Mayu-kun, you can't live your life like this, always waiting for the one man who's never going to acknowledge anything but his sadness."

Mayuko's heart broke. Broke cleanly in two. She knew that Shigure was right. But she forced a smile on her face and kicked Shigure out. She didn't want to believe it. She couldn't believe it. She would refuse it until she died. About a week later, she received the surprise of her life. Hatori walked inside the bookshop. She died a little that day, her heart willing her to run and hide, her brain telling her to stay and fight.

_"Hello…Mayuko. Did my book order come in yet?"_

Of course, this was her mother's cue to come in and tell him embarrassing things about Mayuko.

_"Out! Out! We'll go somewhere! Take a walk! It doesn't matter!"_

Only when she was outside that she realized they were going somewhere…alone. Along with these other couples, with these happy smiles, thinking they were going to be together forever. And Hatori…just standing there, looking properly bewildered, looking so sexy, that it made Mayuko want to squeal like a little school girl. Then she saw his eyes, and she saw the sadness that was always there, and would always be there.

" **Hatori…do you ever feel sad? I mean, do you ever regret the choices you make in life?**

_Everyday, Mayuko, everyday. Everyday, I feel that this could have been prevented, if only I said that. I feel that Kana would not have had to suffer so much sadness, if only I weren't alive._

**But…have you ever realized…that there might be someone out there who would cry for you…who would care if you were gone, who would think that her heart would break in two, if she never got to even see you everyday. Once you think about that person, don't you want to keep on living, just for her?**

_Mayuko, I think already, that my times, my memories with Kana are enough, that they shall last me this lifetime, that I don't need anyone else. I have finished crying, I will succumb to the snow that have always threatened to overcome me._

**Hatori…Hatori, I think you are a very sad man. I…I regret crying for you now! Regret the fact, that I cared when you disappeared, regret the fact that I felt my heart would break in two, if I never saw you again. Who gave you the right to decide the fate of others? All my life, all I've ever wanted, was to taste, just once, the love that you gave Kana, the love that Kana gave you. Hatori…what's wrong with crying once in a while? What's wrong, with sitting down and telling someone that you care, that you're sad, that maybe, just maybe, you hurt too, just like everyone else?"**

"Are you offering? Will you come sit with me and listen to my sadness? Will you be the one to heal my heart? Why should I talk to a person who wouldn't care, who would sell me for their indulgence? Will you be ashamed when I cry? When I tell you, that I'm not the man you thought I was?"

"Then let me listen, Hatori. I wouldn't laugh, I would never laugh. What's wrong with crying? What's wrong with being someone I didn't think you were? What's wrong with being the person you want to be, instead of the person others expect you to be?"

_All this time, they kept on missing each other. The man with the sadness, the snow, who lost his spring. The woman with the regret, the summer, who had never had the taste of coldness. All this time, they kept on missing each other, and all this time, it was said, that Summer changes to Fall, which changes to Snow, which changes to Spring. But what's wrong with going against what's said and going with what's in your heart? So all this time, the words that took over her soul, it was passed on to the man that felt the silence would overwhelm him. So, for once, Summer was silent, while Snow talked without end._


End file.
